Down the Line
by Fenella Church
Summary: A short one-shot that kept buzzing about-set in the late nineties around fifteen years after Alex Drake went to the Railway Arms.


A/N- This oneshot is set fifteen years after Alex stepped into the Railway Arms. When I watched Episode 3 of Season 3, (the one with Louise Gardiner) I wondered if DCI Wilson was put there to give us a little teaser of how Gene might end up- there was just a moment when Gene looked at him and I wondered if it was going through his mind too.

.

Down the Line

.

He'd had a few weird dreams lately. He frowned as he woke at his desk yet again, the frown lines on his face were etched deep and his pout set hard like concrete. His mouth and tongue were coated with the remnants of last night's takeaway and scotch. He smacked his lips irritably, stood up and grabbed his toothbrush, toothpaste and razor before heading to the toilets.

'Guv!' yelled his DS, Charlie Bean, as Gene reached the double doors.

'Busy' Gene said sharply, 'Put the kettle on.'

In the Gents he stared at his reflection in the mirror, this had to stop. He had a home to go to, he needed to start using it. Maybe if he slept in a bed the dreams would be better.

_All alone Gene?_

He frowned again, where did that come from? The voice didn't sound friendly- it was mocking yet delighted. Of course he was alone, he always been alone, well -apart from that time in Manchester when he'd been married. He couldn't remember his wife's face anymore but it didn't bother him.

_We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when._

A dark haired man in thick glasses flashed through his mind.

He sighed, no, he couldn't catch it, he switched his razor on.

.

When he arrived back at his office Charlie Bean bustled in with a mug of coffee, ' Netty's not rung home.'

Gene glanced up, 'Since when?'

'Since tuesday.' Charlie pursed his lips, 'I thought you might have noticed.'

'DI Chambers isn't a bloody child and I'm not a childminder.' Gene snapped, swigging his coffee and standing up, 'Come, let's go and find the silly mare.'

'About time.' Charlie whispered under his breath as he followed his DCI.

Natalie Chambers, Gene's DI, had been undercover for three weeks now and had always checked in regularly- until now.

Charlie and Gene drove to the factory where Netty was 'working' as a supervisor in packing. CID had their suspicions that the department was part of a large cocaine supply line to Scotland and the north.

'You go in' Gene said, settling back in the Jag and lighting up, 'If we both go they'll know we're coppers.'

Charlie was back in ten minutes, 'they haven't seen her for days.'

Gene grabbed a mobile phone the size of a brick and called the station to find Netty's home address. He took off through the streets of London, almost causing several accidents as he tried to hold the phone and drive.

.

DI Natalie Chambers was sprawled on the sitting room sofa in her little terraced house, an empty bottle of pills and a half empty vodka bottle beside her. She had been dead a long time.

Gene grabbed the note that had been left in full view.

_They don't care about me. The Guv is a sexist pig_ _who doesn't give a damn about any of us. I've tried everything to please him but it's never enough. He just shoved me undercover to get rid of me. Well he's got rid now- I hope he's happy._

Gene slammed out of the house and kicked the garden fence in before getting in the Jag. He left Bean to call forensics. His guts churned and writhed as he screeched back to Fenchurch East.

As he reached his office he saw a figure waiting. The man looked familiar. He turned as Gene opened the door.

'Hello' he said meekly.

Gene stared at him; he had a waxy milky complexion, feminine lips and dark eyes magnified by the thick glasses, in the middle of his black hair was a gash of white, Cruella de Vil style. The suit he wore was grey. Everything about him had a grey tinge. He pretended to be unnerved by Gene and began whistling and singing quietly along with the radio as he walked around the office staring at the press cuttings on the walls.

_She may be the face I can't forget..._

The singing turned back into a tuneless whistle.

'Who are you and why are you in my office?' Gene asked.

_May turn each day into a heaven or a hell..._

Keats stopped singing, 'Come on Gene, surely I'm not that forgettable.'

Gene shook his head, 'Never seen you before.'

_She maybe the mirror of my dream, a smile reflected in a... _'I'm disappointed in one way but glad in another.' Keats said, stepping close to Gene, 'If you can't remember me you can't remember her either can you?'

'Who? Netty?' Gene asked.

'Netty!' scoffed Keats, ' A mere distraction. I suppose you chose to ignore the fact that she was in love with you. Still, water under the bridge, eh Gene? Another one dispatched in a somewhat cavalier fashion. If you stand by the Thames long enough you're sure to see one of yours floating by.' He began singing along with the song again.

_She maybe the love that cannot hope to last,_

_May come to me from shadows of the past..._

'Have you escaped from the nuthouse?' Gene asked in the tone of someone taking part in 20 Questions, but as he spoke his mind was whirring like the hard drive on a computer; he did know this man, had known him,but where from? And why did he keep singing that daft soppy song?

_The meaning of my life is she!_

Keats' annoying grin widened even more as the song ended, 'Cept you can't even remember who _she_ is, can you?'

'Of course I can, Netty was my DI.' Gene said sourly.

'Not Netty, the other one- the last female DI you had.' Keats said.

'I've never had a female DI apart from Netty.' Gene said, becoming increasingly bewildered. The bloke was making him nervous, and being nervous wasn't something that he was used to.

'I 'ate you!' Keats leaned in threateningly.

'Well I hope I tasted good.' Gene replied.

'Pathetic.' Keats hissed, his face twisted and changed, became darker.

'Are you D&C?' Gene asked.

'Give the man a medal .' Keats said joyfully, 'I'm here to investigate your latest misdemeanour - it's been a long time coming but I knew, I just knew you'd ...' he stopped talking suddenly and his face turned an even waxier shade of white.

'Hello Jim' Alex smiled at Gene, 'Hello Guv.'

Gene gawped at the beautiful woman who stood in front of him, she was white too, except instead of her whiteness being tinged grey, she had a golden glow about her.

'You!' Keats hissed, he seemed to be finding it difficult to breathe, there was a strangulated gurgling in the back of his throat.

'You're in danger of turning into a Dalek Jim ' Alex told him, 'You could look pleased to see me.'

'Bolly?' Gene rasped.

'You do remember!' she said warmly, 'I knew you would.'

'He can't remember!' screamed Keats, 'He can't remember, how can he?' He began hopping around the room and waving his arms around crazily.

Alex smiled at Gene, 'He'll calm down in a jiffy' she whispered, 'He's trying to blow your roof off but I'm holding it on. He'll soon get tired.'

'How are...How are you here?' Gene asked, moving closer to her, she was even more beautiful than he remembered- and boy did he remember suddenly. He even remembered they had kissed on parting.

'Something rotten and dastardly and underhand has taken place- we're allowed to intervene on odd occasions.' Alex said, slightly boastfully. 'Your DI didn't kill herself, he had her murdered. She wasn't unhappy with you Gene. I'm a little disappointed you didn't notice she was gone earlier though.'

'Yeah- it was wrong of me, I'm slipping.' Gene said, looking worriedly at Keats, who appeared to be trying to mimic Monty Python's Silly Walks along with some rather ear piercing screeching. The lights on the ceiling kept flashing but coming back even brighter. Alex was concentrating hard, 'Of course my reasons for coming to help you out aren't entirely altruistic.' she purred, slipping her silky smooth hand in Gene's rough calloused one. 'It gets a bit lonely up there.' she looked longingly at him, 'I wondered if you were just about ready to call it a day down here.'

'What about the people that need me?' Gene looked alarmed.

'They can need Charlie Bean just as easily.' Alex told him. 'I've got a pint of bitter waiting in The Railway Arms. We can just slip away. You deserve it.'

'So we just go? Now?' Gene asked.

'Yes.' Alex smiled.

'Together?' he asked.

'Forever' she squeezed his hand. 'Unbreakable.'

'Ok' he said.

She floated to the door of the incident room, still clutching his hand. They looked back at the monster.

'Bye Jim' they said.

Keats turned, spitting and furious, to see them disappear in a golden cloud.

When they'd gone the incident room became full of coppers again going about their business. Everything done by the book and presided over by DCI Bean. Keats had no place there. He had no choice but to quietly creep away.


End file.
